EASTERN ONTARIO – Nearly 600 drivers were caught for impaired driving over the holidays during the O.P.P.’s Festive RIDE Campaign across Ontario.

The provincial police force shared its statistics today (Monday) from the period of Nov. 24 to Jan. 2, 2018.

There were 587 drivers charged with impaired driving and an additional 366 were caught within the warning range (0.05 to 0.08). For the warning range, it’s a three day licence suspension for a first time offender.

The O.P.P. says the numbers are down compared to last year while the number of RIDE spot checks and events were up (9,830 versus 7,343 the previous year).

Despite the enforcement, sadly, 44 people were killed in booze and drug-related crashes across Ontario in 2017.